It feels as though the weather has returned to that more typical of an English summer today. About midday the sun was out, so I had some lunch, phoned my Mum, prepped the bike and hit the road….

I had only got as far as Ansty and the wind blew, leaves dropped, it went dark and the rain came – I was glad I had packed my emergency lights and old paclite jacket. By the time I entered Henfield the rain had stopped and I started to dry. All was then OK while I was off-road on the Downs between Steyning and Arundel and then I hit the outskirts of Littlehampton and the heavens opened.

The ride itself was pleasing – I made Henfield in just under the hour ( a record for me) averaging 14mph on Mud Tyres – while the total trip was 39.8 miles (64 km) with c 700m of ascent covered at an average speed of 10.8 mph. Looking at recent stats I am getting slightly quicker! It was also my 6th ride in 8 days covering 137 miles so my stamina and recovery is improving.

Today’s ride also bought my July totals up to 255 miles with 5.3km of ascent. I feel as I am making progress on my objective. I will just need to keep this up when I return to work.